Chapter 7: The Rift in Space

Unfortunately, opening the Gate of Space was not so easy. Even in the end, after combining the abilities of numerous cultivators and espers, all they managed was to open a single portal, and that door only led to an ordinary, elementary world. Entry was restricted too—at most, only ten thousand people could pass through. After careful selection, they sent away this group, considering it as preserving the last sparks of hope for Blue Star.

But Blue Star was utterly destroyed. The world no longer knew of its existence. Its source was taken, its core shattered, and this world itself had reached its end. Those foolish aliens...

She glanced at the rift. She actually had a way to open the Gate of Space. Her spatial gear was, in truth, something she created after watching the cultivators open the gate. It was only after witnessing the moment Liu Lu emerged from the space-time laws that she comprehended and created this key to space-time. Otherwise, could she have conjured it out of pure imagination? Her powers were not at that level yet. If her ability could surpass level nine, perhaps she could create something from nothing.

Currently, her spatial gear was unusable. Besides, the space-time gear was not a true key to space and time—her understanding of those laws was barely superficial. As one of the world's ten great laws, the laws of space and time were not so easily grasped.

Had it not been for Blue Star’s collapse, the shattering of its core, and the world consciousness using its last energy to aid her, she likely would not have succeeded in crossing over and being reborn.

Even the Law of Creation—the law of origin, also one of the ten great laws—she had only scratched its surface. To truly create all things, she would need a profound and thorough understanding of the laws.

Laws, to a world, are like code to a computer program. The world is made up of countless law-codes; anything can be created with them. For instance, in this life, she had only ever created an apple once.

To call it creation is perhaps misleading; it was more like copying. Because she had eaten an apple before, she had already come into contact with the laws that compose it. Even without deep understanding, copying and creating was relatively simple.

But that only applied to things she had encountered before. To create something unfamiliar was much more difficult. So at this moment, all Mu Yin could do was gaze at the spatial rift with a sense of longing.

Never mind. She would deal with matters on Blue Star first, then use the rift to visit other worlds for adventure.

Eventually, Mu Yin grew discouraged, but she did not turn to leave. The spiritual energy here, near the rift, was far richer than outside. After all, beyond the crack lay another world, though separated by a layer of void. The void was the source from which the world core drew energy. Even if the rift remained closed, some energy would still leak out.

Training here for an hour provided more benefit than an entire night elsewhere. It seemed she could return often to cultivate, though the place was rather far—almost an hour’s walk each way.

It was a pity she had nothing suitable to absorb the energy properly. Her spatial gear and the brush formed from her abilities might work, but both currently resided in her soul sea—beyond her reach.

After practicing for a while, she checked the time, grabbed her flashlight, and hurried out—it was nearly five o’clock. She needed to get home early, or she’d be scolded.

From then on, every Saturday and Sunday, Mu Yin declined invitations from her friends and came here to cultivate, focusing mainly on physical training. She planned to build up her physique, so she could sneak out at night to train by opening her window.

Despite her diligent efforts and the bonus from the rift, a year passed and she still hadn’t broken through the first stage, whether in physical arts or her abilities. This left Mu Yin somewhat dejected.

She thought she might need to try something else. Perhaps she should seek out those reclusive cultivators. The fact that they survived to this day meant they must have secret realms. But living in such a small place, she had no way to reach them.

Mu Yin realized this could not continue. She had to find a way to the city. In the apocalypse, she’d interacted with some cultivators before and knew that, although they avoided the world, they still participated in compulsory education and attended high school and university. Most of their activities were in the major cities, especially the capital, Cloudview.

But getting to the city was no easy task. She was just a nine-year-old child without money. Mu Yin began to pay attention to newspapers, magazines, and TV news, watching for any competitions she might enter.

After over a year of solitude, she gradually grew distant from her former playmates. Mu Yin noticed but could only sigh helplessly.

She was destined not to enjoy a carefree childhood like the others. Her time was too precious, and she could only keep pushing herself. If her parents had allowed it, she would have given up on school altogether.

Finally, half a month later, she broke through the first stage of her physical training, and soon after, her ability advanced to the first level as well. At last, she had a sliver of confidence.

What’s more, she received an unexpected surprise: upon advancing, her creative power unlocked many new memories—an inheritance, including a body-forging technique complementary to her creative law.

However, upon her breakthrough, Mu Yin immediately sensed something was amiss. She seemed able to see ghosts...

Without betraying any emotion, she passed by an old lady—who appeared to be the very one who had just died in the village. Today was the seventh day after her death, wasn’t it?

She had even attended the old woman’s funeral feast that day. It was their local custom: for weddings and funerals alike, banquets were held for two or three days, with nearly the whole village pitching in—celebrating for weddings, mourning for funerals.

Of course, Mu Yin believed the main reason was to recoup the money given as gifts at such events. Since everyone in the village participated in gift-giving, if you didn’t host your own event, you’d lose out—no chance to reclaim the money you’d given in the past.

At first, Mu Yin found it all quite novel, since in the future such customs had vanished. Still, this was her first time realizing she could see ghosts. What was going on? Was it because her ability had advanced?

But in her past life, she’d never seen any ghosts. In the apocalypse, people died every day. She was puzzled at first, then came to realize—by then, the heavenly law was already on its last legs. The so-called cycle of reincarnation had likely vanished. It would have been strange if she had seen any ghosts.

People are more frightening than ghosts, she thought. Having witnessed so much human malice in the apocalypse, Mu Yin was not afraid of supernatural beings. So even when she unexpectedly saw someone deceased appear before her, her expression barely changed.